If you’re a perfectionist like me, you probably use whiteout / correction tape to correct spelling mistakes, smudges etc. when planning. While there is the option of liquid whiteout, I find it messy, hard to get the whiteout out of the tube, it’s also more expensive and never seems to last very long.

I use whiteout tape – the cheapest brand I’ve found is the Keji brand from officeworks – it works surprisingly well! (not a sponsored post, just like to share when I find cheap things that actually work 🙂 )

Some pens don’t write great over the top of whiteout, so I decided once and for all to do some pen testing!

Gel pens versus ballpoint pens versus markers: which pens write best on white out tape?

I’m a massive pen addict to say the least…

 I got 99 problems but running out of pens ain’t one of them!

Gel Pens

Gel pens are very nice to write with – they feel very smooth – and  tend to have a ‘glossy’ look. They’re more expensive than ballpoint pens but are less prone to skipping (i.e. where the ink misses the page).

Some of my favorite gel pens are:

• Papermate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm
• Uniball Signo 0.7mm
• Le Pen (just don’t get the neon ones they’re too bright)
• Kaisercraft Colour
• Pilot Juice
• Frixion Erasable
• Pilot Multiball
• Zebra Sarasa
• Kikki K
• Etc (far too many to list!)

Related: Best pens for writing on washi tape 

Of the list above, the Papermate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm wrote over white out tape the best. All of the others on the list above worked well, except for the Pilot Multi-ball which broke through the tape.

Ballpoint Pens

Ballpoint pens are cheap and can be purchased in bulk packs for just a couple of dollars, so they are much cheaper than gel pens (1 gel pen can cost the same as an entire pack of ballpoint pens!) They can be prone to skipping (where the ink misses the page) but once you break them in they are quick to write with and aren’t prone to smudging like gel pens do.

Some of my favorite ballpoint pens are:

• Staedtler Ball 432M
• Pentel RSVP
• PaperMate Kilometrico (these pens last forever and were my go to exam pen back in school!)

Of the list above, Smiggle ballpoint pens wrote the best over white out.

I used a cheap shop pen (pack of 12 for just $5!) and it didn’t write the best over whiteout. Cheap pens are hit and miss.

Marker Pens

Because marker pens are so fat, I tend to only use them for writing headings.

Related: Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner 

Some of my favorite marker pens are:

• Triplus Color 1.0mm
• Smiggle
• Dual tip
• Sharpie Ultra Fine
• Stabilo Pen 68

None of the marker pens I tried on white out worked well 🙁

Because marker pens have a fat tip, they broke through the whiteout leaving bits to get stuck to the end of the pen and making the page look messy – I do not recommend using whiteout tape with them!

From the list above, none of them wrote very well – the ‘best’ would be the Stabilo Pen 68

Fine tip pens

Fine tip pens take a bit of getting used to – they tend to be harder to write with than gel and ballpoint pens.

Some of my favorite fine tip pens are:

• Stabilo Point 88
• Staedtler Triplus Fineliner (0.3mm)
• Paper Mate Flair (it comes in ultra fine and medium)

All of these brands come in lots of rainbow colors!

None of the above pens wrote well – you’d be better off crossing out the text and writing beside it, or covering the error up with a sticker. Or another option is to use a black marker and then write over the top with the Sakura Gelly Roll 08 in White pen.

Needle tip pens

Needle tip pens have a very thin writing tip so aren’t ideal if you write on an angle (I tend not to use them very often for this very reason). Similar to marker pens, needle tip pens don’t work well on whiteout.

I own the Hi-Tec-Maica C (although I rarely use them), you need to write upright to ensure the pen ink doesn’t skip.

The only other needle tip pens I have are the Dong-A-Miffy pens – which come in pretty rainbow colors! (and are easier to write with than the Hi-Tec-Maica C)

Needle tip pens don’t write well on whiteout. Of the 2, the Dong-A-Miffy wrote the best over whiteout tape.

My personal preference?

If a pen comes in a nice set of rainbow colors then I have no self control…

Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

But if I’m doing a spread where I know I’ll be prone to using whiteout (such as blog planning), then I tend to use ballpoint pens. Ballpoint pens tend to write well on any type of paper (including glossy label paper if you’re using planner stickers). Ballpoint pens are also much cheaper than gel pens – so if you are just getting started with planning and want to buy some nice colored pens, then I recommend using ballpoint pens!

Related Posts:

• 6 Useful ways to efficiently plan your week using highlighters 
• The Process Behind Making a Printable Planner
• Minimalist planning: simple decorating & divider ideas for your planner using pens 
• What to do if your planner isn’t working

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